Download or read book Quantifying the Effects of Post fire Decision making on Forest Recovery in a Severly Burned Southwestern Landscape written by Matthew D. Hurteau and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fire-exclusion and changing climatic conditions are increasing the area burned and the size of high-severity burn patches in historically frequent-fire forests. In the southwestern US, distance to seed source and hot, dry conditions in high-severity patches is limiting tree regeneration. While post-fire tree planting can overcome dispersal limitations, high planted seedling mortality rates are common in the southwest. Microclimatic conditions are influential on tree seedling survival and can vary as a function of topography and vegetation cover type. We sought to determine how planted seedling survival and growth would vary as a function of aspect and vegetation cover type in the footprint of the 2011 Las Conchas Fire in northern New Mexico. We also sought to determine how the probability of fire would influence landscape successional development. To quantify the effects of aspect and cover type on seedling survival and growth, we planted ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir seedlings by aspect (north vs south) and cover type (open, under shrub) in a full factorial design. To quantify the effects of fire probability on landscape successional development, we used a simulation model to test the sensitivity of the system to increasing fire probability. We found that topographic wetness index and topographic roughness index were good predictors of both survival and growth. We also found that increasing fire probability can prevent the establishment of tree seedlings following high-severity wildfire, causing the transition from forest to non-forest to be reinforced.
Download or read book Evaluating the Effectiveness of Postfire Rehabilitation Treatments written by Peter R. Robichaud and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spending on postfire emergency watershed rehabilitation has increased during the past decade. A west-wide evaluation of USDA Forest Service burned area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) treatment effectiveness was undertaken as a joint project by USDA Forest Service Research and National Forest System staffs. This evaluation covers 470 fires and 321 BAER projects, from 1973 through 1998 in USDA Forest Service Regions 1 through 6. A literature review, interviews with key Regional and Forest BAER specialists, analysis of burned area reports, and review of Forest and District monitoring reports were used in the evaluation. The study found that spending on rehabilitation has increased to over $48 million during the past decade because the perceived threat of debris flows and floods has increased where fires are closer to the wildland-urban interface. Existing literature on treatment effectiveness is limited, thus making treatment comparisons difficult. The amount of protection provided by any treatment is small. Of the available treatments, contour-felled logs show promise as an effective hillslope treatment because they provide some immediate watershed protection, especially during the first postfire year. Seeding has a low probability of reducing the first season erosion because most of the benefits of the seeded grass occurs after the initial damaging runoff events. To reduce road failures, treatments such as properly spaced rolling dips, water bars, and culvert reliefs can move water past the road prism. Channel treatments such as straw bale check dams should be used sparingly because onsite erosion control is more effective than offsite sediment storage in channels in reducing sedimentation from burned watersheds. From this review, we recommend increased treatment effectiveness monitoring at the hillslope and sub-catchment scale, streamlined postfire data collection needs, increased training on evaluation postfire watershed conditions, and development of an easily accessible knowledge base of BAER techniques.
Download or read book Citizen agency Interactions in Planning and Decisionmaking After Large Fires written by Christine S. Olsen and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report reviews the growing literature on the concept of agency-citizen interactions after large wildfires. Because large wildfires have historically occurred at irregular intervals, research from related fields has been reviewed where appropriate. This issue is particularly salient in the West where excess fuel conditions indicate that the large wildfires occurring in many states are expected to continue to be a major problem for forest managers in the coming years. This review focuses on five major themes that emerge from prior research: contextual considerations, barriers and obstacles, uncertainty and perceptions of risk, communication and outreach, and bringing communities together. It offers ideas on how forest managers can interact with stakeholders for planning and restoration activities after a large wildfire. Management implications are included.
Download or read book Effects of Timber Harvest Following Wildfire in Western North America written by David L. Peterson and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timber harvest following wildfire leads to different outcomes depending on the biophysical setting of the forest, pattern of burn severity, operational aspects of tree removal, and other activities. Postfire logging adds to these effects by removing standing dead trees (snags) and disturbing the soil. The influence of postfire logging depends on the intensity of the fire, intensity of the logging operation, and mgmt. activities such as fuel treatments. Removal of snags reduces long-term fuel loads but generally results in increased amounts of fine fuels for the first few years after logging. Cavity-nesting birds, small mammals, and amphibians may be affected by harvest of standing dead and live trees, with negative effects on most species. Illustrations.
Download or read book Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems written by Thomas A. Waldrop and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2018-03-29 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prescribed burning is an important tool throughout Southern forests, grasslands, and croplands. The need to control fire became evident to allow forests to regenerate. This manual is intended to help resource managers to plan and execute prescribed burns in Southern forests and grasslands. A new appreciation and interest has developed in recent years for using prescribed fire in grasslands, especially hardwood forests, and on steep mountain slopes. Proper planning and execution of prescribed fires are necessary to reduce detrimental effects, such as the impacts on air and downstream water quality. Check out these related products: Trees at Work: Economic Accounting for Forest Ecosystem Services in the U.S. South can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/trees-work-economic-accounting-forest-ecosystem-services-us-south Soil Survey Manual 2017 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/soil-survey-manual-march-2017 Quantifying the Role of the National Forest System Lands in Providing Surface Drinking Water Supply for the Southern United States is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/quantifying-role-national-forest-system-lands-providing-surface-drinking-water-supply Fire Management Today print subscription is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/fire-management-today Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/wildland-fire-ecosystems-fire-and-nonnative-invasive-plants
Download or read book Effects of Timber Harvest Following Wildfire in Western North America written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This synthesis provides an ecological foundation for management of the diverse ecosystems and fire regimes of North America, based on scientific principles of fire interactions with vegetation, fuels, and biophysical processes. Although a large amount of scientific data on fire exists, most of those data have been collected at small spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it is challenging to develop consistent science-based plans for large spatial and temporal scales where most fire management and planning occur. Understanding the regional geographic context of fire regimes is critical for developing appropriate and sustainable management strategies and policy. The degree to which human intervention has modified fire frequency, intensity, and severity varies greatly among different ecosystems, and must be considered when planning to alter fuel loads or implement restorative treatments. Detailed discussion of six ecosystems--ponderosa pine forest (western North America), chaparral (California), boreal forest (Alaska and Canada), Great Basin sagebrush (intermountain West), pine and pine-hardwood forests (Southern Appalachian Mountains), and longleaf pine (Southeastern United States)--illustrates the complexity of fire regimes and that fire management requires a clear regional focus that recognizes where conflicts might exist between fire hazard reduction and resource needs. In some systems, such as ponderosa pine, treatments are usually compatible with both fuel reduction and resource needs, whereas in others, such as chaparral, the potential exists for conflicts that need to be closely evaluated. Managing fire regimes in a changing climate and social environment requires a strong scientific basis for developing fire management and policy. --
Download or read book Scientific Research and the Knowledge base Concerning Forest Management Following Wildfires and Other Major Disturbances written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Resources. Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mitigating Old Tree Mortality in Long Unburned Fire Dependent Forests written by Sharon M. Hood and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This report synthesizes the literature and current state of knowledge pertaining to re-introducing fire in stands where it has been excluded for long periods and the impact of these introductory fires on overstory tree injury and mortality. Only forested ecosystems in the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire are included. Treatment options that minimize large-diameter and old tree injury and mortality in areas with deep duff and methods to manage and reduce duff accumulations are discussed. Pertinent background information on tree physiology, properties of duff, and historical versus current disturbance regimes are also discussed. Charts and tables.
Download or read book Forests under Fire written by Christopher J. Huggard and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The devastating fire that swept through Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the spring of 2000 may have been caused by one controlled burn gone wild, but it was far from an isolated event. All through the twentieth century, our national forests have been under assault from all sides: first ranchers and loggers laid their claims to our national forests, then recreationists and environmentalists spoke up for their interests. Who are our national forests really for? In this book, leading environmental historians show us what has been happening to these fragile woodlands. Taking us from lumber towns to Indian reservations to grazing lands, Forests under Fire reveals the interaction of Anglos, Hispanics, and Native Americans with the forests of the American Southwest. It examines recent controversies ranging from red squirrel conservation on Mt. Graham to increased tourism in our national forests. These case studies offer insights into human-forest relationships in places such as the Coconino National Forest, the Vallecitos Sustained Yield Unit, and the Gila Wilderness Area while also drawing on issues and concerns about similar biospheres in other parts of the West. Over the past century, forest management has evolved from a field dominated by the "conservationist" perspective—with humans exploiting natural resources-to one that emphasizes biocentrism, in which forests are seen as dynamic ecosystems. Yet despite this progressive shift, the assault on our forests continues through overgrazing of rangelands, lumbering, eroding mountainsides, fire suppression, and threats to the habitats of endangered species. Forests under Fire takes a closer look at the people calling the shots in our national forests, from advocates of timber harvesting to champions of ecosystem management, and calls for a reassessment of our priorities—before our forests are gone. Contents Introduction: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Forest Ecosystem Management Strategy / Christopher J. Huggard Industry and Indian Self-Determination: Northern Arizona’s Apache Lumbering Empire, 1870-1970 / Arthur R. Gómez A Social History of McPhee: Colorado’s Largest Lumber Town / Duane A. Smith The Vallecitos Federal Sustained-Yield Unit: The (All Too) Human Dimension of Forest Management in Northern New Mexico, 1945-1998 / Suzanne S. Forrest Grazing the Southwest Borderlands: The Peloncillo-Animas District of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona and New Mexico, 1906-1996 / Diana Hadley America’s First Wilderness Area: Aldo Leopold, the Forest Service, and the Gila of New Mexico, 1924-1980 / Christopher J. Huggard "Where There’s Smoke": Wildfire Policy and Suppression in the American Southwest / John Herron Struggle in an Endangered Empire: The Search for Total Ecosystem Management in the Forests of Southern Utah, 1976-1999 / Thomas G. Alexander Biopolitics: A Case Study of Political Influence on Forest Management Decisions, Coronado National Forest, Arizona, 1980s-1990s / Paul W. Hirt Epilogue: Seeing the Forest Not for the Trees: The Future of Southwestern Forests in Retrospect / Hal K. Rothman
Download or read book Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This synthesis provides an ecological foundation for management of the diverse ecosystems and fire regimes of North America, based on scientific principles of fire interactions with vegetation, fuels, and biophysical processes. Although a large amount of scientific data on fire exists, most of those data have been collected at small spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it is challenging to develop consistent science-based plans for large spatial and temporal scales where most fire management and planning occur. Understanding the regional geographic context of fire regimes is critical for developing appropriate and sustainable management strategies and policy. The degree to which human intervention has modified fire frequency, intensity, and severity varies greatly among different ecosystems, and must be considered when planning to alter fuel loads or implement restorative treatments. Detailed discussion of six ecosystems--ponderosa pine forest (western North America), chaparral (California), boreal forest (Alaska and Canada), Great Basin sagebrush (intermountain West), pine and pine-hardwood forests (Southern Appalachian Mountains), and longleaf pine (Southeastern United States)-- illustrates the complexity of fire regimes and that fire management requires a clear regional focus that recognizes where conflicts might exist between fire hazard reduction and resource needs. In some systems, such as ponderosa pine, treatments are usually compatible with both fuel reduction and resource needs, whereas in others, such as chaparral, the potential exists for conflicts that need to be closely evaluated. Managing fire regimes in a changing climate and social environment requires a strong scientific basis for developing fire management and policy.
Download or read book Fire Social Science Research written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Monitoring Post fire Vegetation Rehabilitation Projects written by Troy A. Wirth and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Post fire Forest Recovery and Restoration in a Changing Climate written by Derek Jon Nies Young and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yellow pine and mixed-conifer (YPMC) forests in California are subject to multiple anthropogenic pressures, including fire suppression and climate change. Although YPMC forests historically experienced a high-frequency, low-severity fire regime, fire suppression has resulted in increased fuel loads and has therefore increased the severity of the fires that do occur. Some of the historically dominant tree species in YPMC forests, particularly pines (Pinus spp.), establish primarily following wildfire. However, the increasing extent of severely-burned areas with few nearby seed sources for conifer regeneration has resulted in poor post-fire tree recruitment across large areas. Climate change has the potential to further substantially alter post-fire regeneration patterns. When post-fire tree regeneration is poor, managers often plant tree seedlings in order to speed forest recovery. However, little is known about (a) how natural post-fire tree regeneration patterns may change as climate changes and (b) how appropriate seed sources for post-fire tree seedling plantings should be selected. Further, despite the fact that most studies of climate change impacts rely on modeled climate variables when examining the relationship between climate and vegetation, there has been little critical evaluation of several important climate variables that are increasingly used in ecological analyses. I address these knowledge gaps in this dissertation. In Chapter 1, I evaluate some central assumptions that are made when modeling climatic water balance variables including actual evapotranspiration (AET) and climatic water deficit (CWD). I find that the assumptions can substantially affect both the absolute and relative values of modeled AET and CWD across landscapes—as well as the inferences drawn from ecological analyses that apply the variables—despite the fact that there is no practical means for avoiding the need to make assumptions. Representing the hydrological climate using simple precipitation variables may introduce less bias than using AET and CWD. In Chapter 2, I use recent interannual variation in precipitation to evaluate the sensitivity of post-fire tree recruitment to changes in precipitation patterns. I find that while post-fire recruitment of some conifer species is reduced—and recruitment of shrubs increased—under post-fire drought, the response of post-fire tree seedling species composition to weather variation is constrained by the species composition of the surrounding unburned forest. Forest tree community composition thus may not rapidly shift as climate changes. Finally, in Chapter 3, I test the application of assisted gene flow—the managed relocation of genotypes within the species’ range—in large-scale post-fire restoration plantings. I find that in the short term, under anomalously hot and dry conditions, trees grown from seed collected at elevations below the planting site generally perform as well as, if not significantly better than, trees grown from seed collected near the planting site. However, challenges specific to large-scale restoration projects—in particular, the use of seed collections that are not geographically precise—can complicate selection of appropriate provenances and lead to unexpected results. Overall, the work in this dissertation contributes to increased potential to understand and predict the natural response of forest ecosystems to climate change and to update management practices in response to changes in climate.
Download or read book Wildfire Effects on a Ponderosa Pine Ecosystem written by Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station (Fort Collins, Colo.) and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wildfire of variable severity swept through 717 acres (290 ha) of ponderosa pine forest in north-central Arizona in May 1972. Where the fire was intense it killed 90% of the small trees and 50% of the sawtimber, burned 2.6 in (6.5 cm) of forest floor to the mineral soil, and induced a water-repellent layer in the sandier soils. The reduced infiltration rates, which greatly increased water yield from severely burned areas during unusually heavy fall rains, caused soils to erode and removed some nutrients which had been mineralized by the fire. Water yields have declined each year toward prefire levels.
Download or read book Effects of Fire Management of Southwestern Natural Resources written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The proceedings is a collection of papers and posters presented at the Symposium on Effects of Fire Management of Southwestern Natural Resources held in Tucson, Arizona, November 15-17, 1988. Included are papers, poster papers and a comprehensive list of references on the effects of fire on: plant succession, cultural resources, hydrology, range and wildlife resources, soils, recreation, smoke management, and monitoring techniques pertinent to prescribed fire management in the southwestern United States.
Download or read book Wildlife Habitat Conservation written by Michael L. Morrison and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2015-05-15 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book that emphasized the concept of wildlife habitat for a generation of students and professionals is now available to even more readers. "Habitat" is probably the most common term in ecological research. Elementary school students are introduced to the term, college students study the concept in depth, hunters make their plans based on it, nature explorers chat about the different types, and land managers spend enormous time and money modifying and restoring habitats. Although a broad swath of people now have some notion of what habitat is, the scientific community has by and large failed to define it concretely, despite repeated attempts in the literature to come to meaningful conclusions regarding what habitat is and how we should study, manipulate, and ultimately conserve it. Wildlife Habitat Conservation presents an authoritative review of the habitat concept, provides a scientifically rigorous definition, and emphasizes how we must focus on those critical factors contained within what we call habitat. The result is a habitat concept that promises long-term persistence of animal populations. Key concepts and items in the book include: • Rigorous and standard conceptual definitions of wildlife and their habitat. • A discussion of the essential integration of population demographics and population persistence with the concept of habitat. • The importance of carryover and lag effects, behavioral processes, genetics, and species interactions to our understanding of habitat. • An examination of spatiotemporal heterogeneity, realized through fragmentation, disruption to eco-evolutionary processes, and alterations to plant and animal assemblages. • An explanation of how anthropogenic effects alter population size and distribution (isolation), genetic processes, and species diversity (including exotic plants and animals). • Advocacy of proactive management and conservation through predictive modeling, restoration, and monitoring. Each chapter is accessibly written in a style that will be welcomed by private landowners and public resource managers at local, state, and federal levels. Also ideal for undergraduate and graduate natural resource and conservation courses, the book is organized perfectly for a one-semester class. Published in association with The Wildlife Society.
Download or read book Mitigating Old Tree Mortality in Long Unburned Fire Dependent Forests written by Sharon M. Hood and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-10 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically, many forested ecosystems in the United States burned frequently, both from lightning ignited fires and from Native American burning. Frequent fire maintained low fuel loadings and shaped forests composed of tree species adapted to survive low-intensity frequent fire. In the early 1900s, the United States government initiated a program to suppress all fires, both natural and anthropogenic. Many unintended consequences have resulted from over a century of fire suppression, such as increased tree densities and fuel, increased stress on older trees from competition, and greater risk of bark beetle attacks. These consequences are especially apparent in forests that historically burned frequently and have thus missed many fire cycles. Maintaining old trees and perpetuating large-diameter trees is an increasing concern. Stands of old trees that were historically common across vast landscapes in the United States are now relatively rare on the landscape because of harvesting (Noss and others 1995). Though logging is no longer the principal threat to most old-growth forests, they now face other risks (Vosick and others 2007). Prescribed fire has become a major tool for restoring fire-dependent ecosystem health and sustainability throughout the United States and use will likely increase in the future. However, increased mortality of large-diameter and old trees following fire has been reported in many areas around the country, and there is increased concern about maintaining these on the landscape (Kolb and others 2007; Varner and others 2005). As early as 1960, Ferguson and others (1960) reported high longleaf pine mortality after a low-intensity prescribed burn consumed the majority of heavy duff accumulations around the base of the trees. Mortality of pre-settlement ponderosa pines in prescribed burn areas in Grand Canyon National Park was higher than in control plots (Kaufmann and Covington 2001). After beginning a forest restoration program that reintroduced fire by prescribed burning at Crater Lake National Park, excessive post-fire mortality of larger ponderosa pine was observed in the burn areas, and early season burns had an even higher mortality than late season burns (Swezy and Agee 1991). Both Swezy and Agee (1991) and McHugh and Kolb (2003) reported a U-shaped mortality distribution for ponderosa pine following wildfires, with smaller- and larger-diameter trees having higher mortality than mid-diameter trees. Forest managers around the country have expressed concerns about large-diameter and old tree mortality when prescribed burning in long-unburned forests. The synthesis herein suggests recommendations for maintaining and perpetuating old trees in fire-dependent ecosystems. It expands on efforts funded by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) to define the issues surrounding burning in fire excluded forests of the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire. When the JFSP initially funded this synthesis, two JFSP projects were examining the effect of raking on reducing old ponderosa and Jeffrey pine (subsequently published in Fowler and others 2010; Hood and others 2007a). Another JFSP project examined the effect of prescribed burning under different duff moisture conditions on long-unburned old longleaf pine mortality (Varner and others 2007). Two other syntheses were also recently published on this subject: Perpetuating old ponderosa pine (Kolb and others 2007) and The conservation and restoration of old growth in frequent-fire forests of the American West (Egan 2007). The scope of the synthesis herein focuses only on limiting over story tree mortality in species adapted to survive frequent fire; therefore, the implications of fire suppression and fuel treatments on other ecosystem components are not discussed.
